On the train I had a feeling seeing a scratch card abandoned on the floor in front of the seat I chose that something wasn’t right about the ticket, and upon picking it up I noticed that it had won, only £1 but a win is a win right? Now this wasn’t going to change my life in any significant form, and probably the reason the person purchasing the ticket discarded it, however I figured that as the purchase price was £1 I would use the ticket to get another ticket and try to see how far we could take the winning streak.

Of course the second ticket won £4, so essentially whoever threw the ticket away could have used it and won another prize, maybe not the £4 I won as they would’ve got another ticket another day but still I was on a winning streak, following my own personal gambling strategy I pocketed half of the money as profits and played on with £2 using lucky pennies I had found on the way.

A lucky penny by definition cannot be one that you have received as change as there is absolutely no luck involved in the procurement of that coin. Now some say that the shinyness of a coin effects how lucky it is and it could be possible as finding a clean shiny penny in the streets would be luckier as most coins would be dirty and used especially just lying about like that. When you take the coin you want to take care not to put it with other coins as much like an electric charge the luck would dissipate and it would just become another coin and worthless lost amongst your change, treat it with respect and care and keep it separate until you are ready to use the coin.

There are a few ways you can use your lucky penny, the first and obvious use here is to scratch off a scratchcard in the hopes of winning, other uses include spending it at a wishing well or lake in a park by flicking it into the water as you make your wish, or making a wish and placing on a point of interest in a public location. Artificial wishing wells may not be as lucky as using it on a public lake, there is less water and it seems so artificial and when everyone has spent lucky pennies there is it truly lucky? Plus you have to get the penny into the water with your flick so having a bigger target does help.

Choose the way in which you spend your lucky penny carefully as you only have one chance to use the luck and once it’s spent it is spent whether you gained favour from the luck or not. If you have used the coin to rub a scratchcard then obviously the coin remains in your possession unlike using it for a wish in other locations, this presents the problem where you do not wish to spend the coin as it would be bad luck after this to do so, instead it would be recommended to donate to a charity and pass on the luck, do not try to gain another piece of luck by flicking into a lake either as the luck is already spent and would give you bad luck to do so.

When donating to a charity I would suggest flipping the coin into the charity pot as a symbol of flipping the bad luck back into good but I wouldn’t say that is important as you are giving the money to charity, passing on the luck and flipping it for extra luck if you wish the luck on the charity can be a good symbolism and I’m sure any charity would understand that, even if you flip it and catch it then place it into the container. If you really want to be extra charitable you could even give them a completely unused lucky coin straight from picking it up and give them your full unused luck as well as a small donation towards their goals, and if their bucket is full of lucky pennies then obviously the dissipation of being amongst other coins isn’t an issue as there are so many lucky coins in the pot it gathers rather than dissipates.

Playing on with the £2 I had a little luck winning a further £1 out of the two tickets, and I used this to play on but with no winnings. I probably beat the odds by winning so frequently but I did maximise my chances by swapping stores and tickets used rather than playing off the same ticket rail which would reduce the chances of winning as if you’ve just purchased a winning ticket off that rail it’s likely the next few won’t win.

Remember to only play with money you can afford to lose, www.gambleaware.co.uk do not chase winnings or victory, and I only played with a ticket I found so I won with no loss to myself, the actual odds of winning are far lower than the 3/5 winning tickets I had here, perhaps a sign lucky pennies work? Judge for yourself, I only played for entertainment purposes and the chance to win big, the odds are stacked against you.